Avocado Soup Gerald

 This is another of Hi-Ho's recipes from New York Times cookbook and I am including it because I just love the name and I wish there was a backstory. 

 

Ingredients

1 to 2 ripe avocados

Several drops onion juice

1 cup chicken broth/Consomme

1/2 cup sour cream 

1/2 cup light sweet cream

freshly ground salt and pepper, to taste 

paprika for serving 

 

Process

1. Wash and peel enough avocado to make one cup. 

 

2. Combine all ingredients in an electric blender, or mash the avocado and beat with the other ingredients until smooth and well blended.  

 

3. Store the mixture in a covered jar in the refrigerator until chilled. 

 

4. Correct the seasonings and top each serving with a sprinkle of paprika 

 

 

Avocado Soup

 Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

4 ripe avocados

3 cups chicken broth

2 scallions, chopped including green tops

1 teaspoon lemon juice

herb salt and pepper to taste

1 cup sour cream

Process

 1. Peel, pit and dice avocados. 

2. Places in blender with scallions and 2 cups chicken broth. 

3. Blend on high speed until completely smooth. 

4. Transfer to a bowl and stir in remaining 1 cup chicken broth, seasonings, and sour cream. 

5. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled. 

6. Serve in individual bowls with a sprinkling of chopped chives.

Abby's amazing grilled cheese with avocado butter (thanks again AltonBrown)

 
















I think Alton Brown has put us under a spell. He gives us directions and we follow through. We also seem to complicate his directions by letting our brilliant culinary minds create plans for luscious grilled cheese sandwiches with his amazing ideas.

Take for example this sandwich.
 
















This sandwich is a thing of beauty.
 
















It contains luscious melted cheeses ...
 
















... along with fried sage...
 
















and Alton Brown's avocado Butter.... (RECIPE here)
 

































 




















































and fried in the sage oil.
 

Canellini Bean Salad with Avocado Dressing

This was hands down the best salad I have made in a while, and the dressing is so good and healthy, I have made the salad at least three times in the past month. I found the recipe originally on Pinterest, but the owner of the recipe is the lovely and talended Cozy Kitchen. .The recipe can be found HERE. Honestly, their picture is also so much better than mine - neat and clean before it is tossed with the dressing.

Ingredients

Salad:
3 cups arugula
1 (15-ounce) can of Cannelleni beans
3 tablespoons minced mint (about 5 leaves)
Small handful of Italian parsley (about 1/4 cup), roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, zested into the salad (using a Microplane is a good idea)
1 small shallot, minced
1/4 cup cubed feta (about 2 ounces)

Avocado Dressing:
1/2 large avocado (or one small avocado)
Salt
Pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice from 1 to 2 lemons, divided (and depending on taste)

Process: 
1. In a medium bowl, toss all of the salad ingredients together, minus the feta (it’ll make a bit of a mess).
2. To a blender, add the avocado half, juice from 1 lemon and pinch of salt and pepper. Pulse a few times, until the avocado is broken up. With the blender going, pour in the olive oil until the mixture begins to thicken and become smooth. Add a few tablespoons (I ended up needing about 4 tablespoons) of warm water to help with the smooth texture. I let the blender run for about 1 minute to achieve the super smooth texture. If you’re ok with tartness (I think this salad needs it because of the beans) squeeze in the remaining lemon juice and adjust salt and pepper to taste. It may seem too tart right now, but I can assure you that when you toss it with the salad ingredients, it’ll be all good.
3. Add about half of the dressing and lightly toss the salad using your hands or a pair of tongs. Keep adding a bit of dressing as needed
4. Transfer to a serving plate, if you like, and top with the cubes of feta.
Serves 4 (as a salad appetizer)

Avocado, Beet and Feta salad

Salad is for dinner!

Avocado Tomato Salsa

This salsa is the topping for the Corn Cilantro Pancakes.

Ingredients
1 avocado
4 tomatoes
1 scallion
1/4 red onion chopped
1/4 cup diced cilantro
1 lime (juiced)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs oil
salt and pepper to taste

Process

1. Cut avocado in half lengthwise, remove pit, remove skin, and chop the meat.
   
2. Coarsely chop next four ingredients.
   
3. Combine above ingredients in a bowl and mix with minced garlic, lime juice, oil and salt and pepper.
   
4. The consistency can be altered by further mashing or chopping the ingredients. Taste and adjust as you may wish for more lime or garlic, etc.
   
5. When pancakes are ready, spoon salsa over the top and enjoy.
   

6 Layer Dip

Sometimes I call this recipe the 7 Layer Dip or the 5 Layer Dip depending on how many ingredients I actually make it with. There are many ingredients you could use, the only important matter is what order you add them because somethings are more difficult to spread and the goal is to keep the layers separate and distinct. So, be sure to also keep layers of similar color separate from each other!

Ingredients
1 can re-fried beans (MUST be the bottom layer)
Mashed avocado (works well on top of the beans)
sour cream (gently spread on top of avocado)
shredded cheese (cheddar or Monterey Jack)
chopped red onion
salsa

optional ingredients for added layers of fun:
shredded lettuce (typically a top layer)
chopped tomatoes
chopped black olives

Process

1. In bottom of a glass baking dish, spread the can of re-fried beans.
   
2. Next gently spread the avocado.
3. Then gently spread the sour cream.
   
4. Gently pour salsa over that.
5. Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top.
   
6. Add chopped red onion over that.
   
7. Refrigerate for an hour.
   
8. Serve with tortilla chips and scoop out of dish.